Schwartz turns friendly hobby into competitive desire

Tyler Schwartz has been around the country and to Europe, pursuing his cycling dreams. COURTESY OF TYLER SCHWARTZ

How do you become a competitive cyclist?

Stories of professional athletes usually begin with them telling the story of how they always wanted to be a professional athlete. An example would be the third-grade journal entry that begins with, "When I grow up..."

But for Schwartz, the path he is on was born out of thin air.

"When you think of high school sports, cycling is definitely one of the last things anyone would think of," Schwartz said. "No one in my family was a cyclist or is a cyclist. And I enjoy it because it's something totally different."

In ninth grade, Schwartz began to take group rides with local friends, realizing he enjoyed the rides from a competitive standpoint much more than his pals.

"After that, I joined a team and had my first race, and I enjoyed it," he said. "It was a different feeling for me. Competing, it was just different, being one person against the field."

Schwartz says his weekly schedule includes six days of riding after school, between 9-13 hours of training and one to three races each week.

Tyler Schwartz is certainly no miracle worker, but the Newport Harbor High School senior, who first greased up the competitive two-wheeler as a freshman, is transforming what was originally a boredom-curing pastime into a potential globe-trotting fun pass.

Schwartz, 18, is a competitive cyclist, who from a young age has traveled across the country and into Europe, traversing awkward terrains in awkward yet necessary skinsuits.

"I didn't like it at first," Schwartz said of the customary biking spandex. "But now I don't really mind it. It's become what I wear more often than normal clothing at this point. It feels like I spend more time during the day on my bike than off my bike."

Kit – another name for biker shorts and a biker top – aside, Schwartz has become one of the nation's best teenage cyclists. And the cliché "he was born to do this" comes to mind when Schwartz shares just how far he's come (or, how far he's gone) in only four years.

Schwartz pointed out that in biking, which is mainly an individual sport, if you don't have the talent and work ethic, you can't hide behind the success of a teammate.

His individual drive is what ultimately dragged him into the world of biking.

"Your teammates can only do so much for you," Schwartz said. "Success in each race is based solely upon your tactics and your ability."

Among the myriad biking events, Schwartz has angled his passion toward time trials, what his bike team director Dave Sheek said calls for "straight power."

"The kid is amazingly strong and he has incredible potential," Sheek said. "He's developing well. He shows gains in his numbers all season long. But the things that his coach is doing with him, he's not nearly done. He has so many things that he can do."

Some of the things that Schwartz has already done are travel across the country, including Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado and Kentucky, competing in events. He is currently ranked the No. 5 junior American in the Union Cycliste International points standings and has won more than 30 races.

In the summer of 2012, Schwartz traveled to Antwerp, Belgium, to compete in junior events.

"Going overseas to race is one of the most exciting things I've ever done," he said. "It's so different than racing here. You go to Europe and cycling is huge. You could have 120 kids in your race, whereas here, you'll have about 30."

Sheek said that Schwartz's performance overseas defined what class of rider the 18-year old is poised to be.

"U.S. kids don't have the experience the European kids do," Sheek said. "We send them over there to really have that experience. For kids from the U.S. to go over there and do well, that's huge, and in his time trial race he finished really well."

According to Schwartz, next up is his ascension to an under-23 development team. Until then, maintaining his ranking and outworking the competition top his list.

"It's a much bigger sport than people realize," he said. "There are thousands and thousands of people that compete on a weekly basis. To see my name at the top of the rankings of all the racers in the nation, it provides so much gratification that you can't really describe it."

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